Cheap Baseball - Inning 4, A National Heirloom (1920-1930) (Video) (Ken Burns) Price

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Inning 4 - A National Heirloom (The Babe) 1920-1930
Episode 4 in Ken Burns classic documentary on "Baseball" is entitled "A National Heirloom," although in the companion book there is a different title (that you cannot say on Amazon). In both instances the reference is to Babe Ruth. The previous episode ended with baseball reeling from the Black Sox scandal. Now we see the impact of Ruth upon the game, which destroyed the "science" of baseball beloved of Ty Cobb. This decade also saw Rogers Hornsby and Walter Johnson achieve greatness, while Rube Foster was organizing the Negro Leagues and the House of David was barnstorming the country, but it is clearly Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees that dominate the decade. ESPN ended up picking Michael Jordan as the greatest sports athlete of the century. Jordan was good, but he was no Babe Ruth. Do not waste your time watching "The Babe Ruth Story" or "The Babe" or any of the dreadful feature films about the man. To understand what Babe Ruth meant to the game of baseball, watch THIS tape instead. I watch this documentary every year around opening day and the greatness of Ruth always astounds me. The man was mythic, absolutely Homeric.